Who I am
by Crescent Luna Moon
Summary: What if Simba wasn't Mufasa's son? What was Scar's real motives for killing Mufasa? Is Simba really who we all think he is?
1. Chapter 1

**Me**: I know, I have a lot of stories and you are all begging me to update, but this one was being laid heavily upon me, you know who you are when I say this, and I wanted to get this out into the world. Now there is one thing I want to tell you, while this is _**like**_ the original Lion King, I went and changed a few things and the main one is that the animals can turn into humans if they wish so be looking out for that. Now onward! 

**Who** **I** **am**

**Chapter** **1**

Sarabi panted and screamed in in pain as her cub made its way through her. _Today, why had it have to be today? Why couldn't her cub wait a little longer? _These thoughts swirled in Sarabi's pain filled mind as she pushed. Mufasa, her mate, laid just beyond the entrance of the cave, not aloud to enter for the fear of Sarabi's wrath for disturbing her entrance into motherhood. She could feel her cub moving to the last part of the birthing process and she couldn't wait to have it out of her so with one final mighty push, Sarabi screamed and felt her cub move out of her.

She laid on the ground, panting heavily and she felt overly tired, her shoulder length blond hair was sweaty and sticking to her skin, making her cool slightly from the activity of giving birth.

_If this didn't show that females were stronger then males then by god I'm gonna kill someone_ was what Sarabi thought as she lifted herself to take care of her cub. Outside the cave, Mufasa was pacing back and forth from one small boulder to another yet slightly larger one. What was taking so long for Sarabi to have his cub? Surly it didn't take this much time for his mother to bring him and Taka into the world did it? Then again Taka, to the rest who knew him; he was Scar, was premature and his mother taken longer due to his early date of birth. Though surely it didn't take so long to have his cub, his heir or heiress now did it?

"Sire maybe you should stop pacing, you're making the other lionesses worry" Zazu said. The red head stopped and looked at the small, blue haired, tattooed bird-man then looked to the others, Sarafina was sitting not far from the other side of the entrance with Nala and the other lionesses. They all had a look on their faces, all that said fear and worry as they waited for some sort of noise that wasn't pained screams or deafening silence.

Finally to what seemed like forever to the others they heard a child crying from the inside of the cave. Mufasa was the first one to get to his mate's side, his long red hair was what everyone saw when he whipped around and raced inside, and saw her curled up on her side and feeding the small baby. From what Mufasa could see, he had a son.

"Sarabi, you're amazing!" he said and kissed his tired mate, who glanced at him then smiled tiredly before deeming the baby full and handed him to Mufasa.

"Have you decided on a name?" Sarabi asked as she shifted from human to her natural form as a lion. Mufasa was smiling and he looked down to Sarabi.

"Simba, my father liked the name when he was alive, so in honor of him, my son's name is Simba" Mufasa told her before she fell into a much needed rest. Mufasa took Simba and went out to the others that stayed at the entrance and showed them his small son.

"Mufasa, he's gorgeous!" Sarafina said as she went over to him, Nala following close behind, both blonds cooed at the little boy.

"What's his name?" Nala asked timidly. She was slightly fearful of Mufasa as she had seen him angry when he was fighting with the outcast Scar.

"His name is Simba" he said to the older cub and the other lionesses. Zazu was right next to him, jumping up and down happily with the thought of the next generation of the royal line being born already!

Though everyone at Pride Rock seemed to be in a joy to celebrate, not everyone was in a good mood. Far off to the side of Pride Rock at a small little rock bungalow sat the estranged brother of Mufasa, Scar. Pitch black hair laid down his shoulders and back; making him seem untouchable, dark tan skin from hours of laying in the sun; this made him stick out like a sore thumb among the pride, and calculating, deep green eyes made your heart stop when they caught you in a dead stare. Scar was small compared to his brother, but he made up for it in planning, agility, cunningness, and having the ability to slip into the background, away from everyones knowledge, this was so he could get his ways.

Scar sat in his rock home that he made himself years ago when he had a fall out with his family, mainly with his father and some what with Mufasa. He looked bored and seemed to doze in and out of a suspension of being awake and being asleep, but that whole being of a lazy and tired lion-man crashed to the ground when he heard footsteps clambering across the stray rocks.

_'Great, just what I want, Mufasa coming over to try and bring me to see the __pride and joy, his kid'_ Scar thought bitterly as he readied himself to lash out when his brother gave him a tongue lashing for missing the birthing of the next in line for the throne.

"Taka?" a voice called out, but it wasn't a deep male's voice that Scar associated with his brother, no it was softer, more feminine. He also knew that only three people called him that cursed name that his mother bestowed upon him at his birth, one of them was dead and another wouldn't dare call him that unless it was to taught him.

"Sarabi?" he called out and stood up. What was the queen doing at his little abode? Especially after giving birth? Scar walked over to where he heard Sarabi's voice and sure enough, standing against one of the side rocks in all her glory was the queen.

"You should be resting!" he hissed to her and pulled her out of the shadows to get in the warm sun. After seeing so many births, Scar knew that the mother needed to be warmed after the blood loss.

"I will, but I wanted to know that my son has been born" Sarabi said with a smile, her blonde hair was covering her shoulders like a shall. Scar felt his eye twitch at the explanation that Sarabi gave him, he could of found that out later, she didn't have to risk her health to come down and tell him!

"So? You don't need to move after such a short time after giving birth!" he said and sat her down on one of the rocks. Sarabi chuckled at Scar and placed a hand on his shoulder as he was on his knees to help sit her down.

"I know you don't like it when someone you care for is moving about when they're not, but I have to ask you something" Sarabi said, her face becoming serious. Scar lifted an eyebrow and looked into Sarabi's light brown eyes.

"What?" he asked, getting a little impatient, he was thinking that he might have to get the annoying helper, Zazu, down to where they were and help Sarabi get back to Pride Rock.

"Will you to look after Simba, my son, when no one else can?" Sarabi asked while looking Scar dead in the eye. Scar blinked and sighed, this woman would have him go haywire with worry and then say stupid shit like this.

"Why wouldn't I look after my own nephew, my own brother's child?" Scar asked while making a hand motion to a blue bird that was flying over head. He stopped when he heard Sarabi laugh lightly.

"Oh Taka, how naïve can you be?" she asked in a rhetorical question.

"What's that supposed to mean? You asked me to look after your son, who is my nephew and my brother's flesh and blood!" Scar said as anger started to course through him. Sarabi laughed again.

"Yes I asked you to look after _**my**_ son, but I didn't say anything about Simba being your nephew or Mufasa's son" Sarabi said. Scar stopped and looked at her in confusion.

"What?" he seemed to be asking that question a lot today. Sarabi blinked and looked over to see Zazu coming over with Mufasa and several lionesses, it was now or never. She quickly turned back to Scar, Taka, her childhood friend.

"Taka...Simba is not Mufasa's child" she said and got up to meet the others, her plan was starting to roll into action. Her son would be safe, Taka would see to that Simba would be safe and happy, she knew that Taka wouldn't let Mufasa know her secret she bestowed upon him. 

**~0~**

**Me**: Hope you liked the first chapter! DarkAngel048 here's what you requested, hope you enjoyed it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Scar sat at his little bungalow and waited for his "nephew" to arrive. He couldn't believe that Simba was already a year old and acting much like Sarabi did when they were cubs, he did act like Mufasa a little, but Scar guessed that it could be from being around him and picking up on certain things.

Since the day Simba was born, he and Sarabi had patched up their relationship as friends, much to Mufasa's enjoyment and Scar's annoyance, and he started to learn about Sarabi and what she did before she became Mufasa's mate. She only told him basics and answered his questions when she saw them having no harm. The only thing he knew about Simba's real father was that he was a rogue and looked like Mufasa. She didn't give any great details as she worried that Mufasa would find out and try to kill Simba, that thought made Scar's blood run cold at the thought of Mufasa trying to kill sweet, innocent Simba, whom he had become attached to when he first saw the little wayward cub.

**~0~**

Scar looked down to where Simba was playing with Nala, the little cub was smaller then he should have been, though he vaguely remembered that Sarabi said that he was a little early, he had a soft patch of blond hair like Sarabi that had some red flaking through it and it was enough to give him sort of a fire like effect. When Simba saw Scar he had waddled/crawled over to him, holding his hands out and made a movement to have the dark haired man pick him up. Scar did just that and felt a zap go through him when he did, something felt like he was complete while he held he cub like something snapped together that had once been broken and it scared him slightly. He continued to hold Simba as Sarabi, Mufasa, Sarafina and a few other lionesses talked. None took notice, besides Sarabi and when Scar had caught her eye, she just smiled at him and held a knowing look. He later asked Sarabi about how she felt when she was with Simba's real father.

"I felt like I had found the one piece of me that I had been missing all my life. When I left him to return to the pride, that piece was taken from me, I feel empty without him" she said sadly, she regretted leaving her rouge lover and hoped one day that she would find him again. She did love Mufasa, but it was brotherly like with Taka, though she knew that Mufasa wouldn't like it if she said those words to him, he could get aggressive if something went wrong. She blinked and turned back to Taka.

"I'm taking a wild guess and say that you felt that way with my son?" Sarabi asked then smirked as Scar blushed ever so lightly and turned his head away from her.

"I give my consent if you ever choose to take him as a mate" She told him. Scar whipped around and stared at her in shock and like she just admitted something that he really didn't want to know.

"ARE YOU CRAZY? HE'S JUST A CUB!" He shouted, oh how both were glad that they were at Scar's bungalow and not at Pride Rock. Sarabi smiled softly as she pick Simba up when he crawled by her foot, she refused to leave him alone until he was big enough to turn into a lion and start training to become a adult lion, only Mufasa had gotten angry with her for taking his son away from their 'Father/Son bonding' to spend time with Scar.

"He won't be a cub forever, you know, and it's almost a rarity to find you perfect match! You're extremely lucky to have found him at such a young age also I know about you like of a certain gender more then the other-" Sarabi stopped when Scar glared at her and covered her mouth with his hand, his green eyes were ablaze with a dare to her about saying another word on that subject.

"Sarabi, I'm going to let go as long as you promise to never a word or breath a syllable on that detail about me, understand?" Scar asked and after receiving a nod from the blond queen he let go of her. While Sarabi aligned her jaw from Scar's grip, Scar held Simba, who had attached himself to Scar's neck and kept a hold and hugged him, not letting go. Scar had a soft look in his eyes and a small smile as he ran a hand through Simba's hair while the cub cuddled up to his neck.

**~0~**

"TAKA!" a voice rang as he came out of his remembrance. He turned to see a flash of blond run to him and tackle his chest, the usual greeting. Scar coughed lightly as he caught Simba when the cub landed.

"How many times do I have to say it Simba? What if Mufasa was behind you?" Scar said while scolding Simba. Simba just smiled at him and laid his head on Scar's bare chest.

"I'm sorry, Taka, I just can't say **'Uncle Scar'** it sounds to weird to me, you've always been Taka to me since I've met you" Simba said and looked up to Scar, seeing the older man shake his head.

Scar looked into Simba's orange eyes then looked at a scar that laid above his left eyebrow and felt his heart thump painfully before he held Simba tighter as he remembered Mufasa giving it to him, if it was an accident or was inflicted upon him intentionally wasn't known as only Simba and Mufasa knew what happened, but Simba was a little too young to remember and was unconscious when Mufasa came running to Pride Rock, looking for Zazu to fly out to Rafiki's tree and bring him to heal Simba.

Ah now Rafiki was another bag of rocks all together. The old baboon-man had not guessed Scar's relationship with Simba, he simply _knew_, said he had saw it in the stars as the old lions and lionesses told him that they were meant to be. Scar thought that Rafiki had eaten a bad fruit from his tree. The only thing Scar liked about the silver-white and balding man was that he kept Mufasa out of the loop and casted a protective spell over Simba when he was looking over Simba when he got the scar.

"Taka, Mufasa's not my real dad right?" Simba asked softly as he laid against Scar. Scar looked down at Simba and sighed. Sharp cub he thought and nodded to Simba's question.

"Yes, Mufasa is not your father, but your step-father and your King" Scar said and tasted bitterness in his mouth.

"But he's not my real dad, why do I have to be around him and do as he says?" he asked.

"Because he holds the title of King, his word is law" Scar answered.

"Why aren't you King? Your Mufasa's brother right?"

"Yes I'm Mufasa's brother, but he was first born, he was the first heir to the throne. This means that I can't have the throne unless he is dead or he hands it to me, but I won't become King as he believes that you are his child, meaning that you'll become King by his say" Scar explained, finding that Simba was far more intellectual then he let on.

"But I don't want to be King! I want you to be King. I just want to be right there next to you" Simba said while burrows his face in Scar's neck, having moved to listen to the elder man answer his questions. Scar held Simba and felt his heart hammer in his chest at Simba's declaration. He ran his hand through Simba's hair and kissed the boy's head while just holding him thinking about what Simba said.

"You don't want to be King?" Scar asked the cub in his arms.

"Yes" Simba answered in Scar's ear softly, this was having a effect on Scar as his ears were sensitive, one reason he lived away from the noise of the pride.

"May I ask why?" He asked evenly and calmly.

"Because that would mean that I would be like Mufasa, I would have to live up to his expectations, I would have to do things I wouldn't like to keep the pride happy" Simba said and wrapped his arms around Scar's neck.

He felt safe with Taka, he felt like he was complete and he felt that he could be himself, two of this he felt with his mom, but it grew more when he was with Taka. Simba knew the basics of what he and Scar had as a relationship from his long talks he had with his mom. He was Scar's other half, he was the only one that Scar could be open with and didn't have to feel like he could be betrayed or have to gain the trust of, he could just share himself without hiding parts in shadows. Scar sighed softly and kept running his hand through Simba's hair.

"You don't have to be anyone, but yourself, Simba. If you don't want to be King then don't, pass it to someone else and take your spot among the pride or right where you feel comfortable" Scar told the troubled cub. He knew what Simba was talking about and how he felt, he felt the same when he was younger and in Mufasa's shadow as well as his father's, the late King Ahudi's, background where he was out of his sight and ne'er seen in the same light as his honorable first born, he ha been afraid to turn out like Ahudi and like Mufasa, but unlike Simba, he desired to be King to change the ways of the land for the better.

**~0~**

Some time later Scar found himself in his lion form and roaring the pride lands to hunt. He was just moments away from catching a gazelle when he saw Simba and his little friend Nala slip through the grass that was around the watering hole.

_**'Where are they going?'**_ Scar thought, ignoring the fleeing gazelle in favor for following the two cubs. The Pride lands were dangerous for unwatched cubs and there was no telling where they were heading, whether or not they would be hurt if they went to their location. He realized about half way to the unknown location that they were heading.

_**'WHO TOLD THEM ABOUT THE ELEPHANT GRAVEYARD?'**_ Scar shouted in his mind and quickly picked up his speed, slipping through the grass to get ahead of them, or at least be nearby to keep them from danger.

**Me**: Sorry for leaving it off here, but I love to give people a bit of a taste of the next part so they will come back. What you think? Scar is protective of Simba and Mufasa is still clueless, but aggressive to Simba, what will happen? Well you'll have to come back and see. :3

My logic on the age thing - I believe that every month is like a year for the animal-human characters and a year is a decade so it's like this.

Simba = 1 year as a lion, but 10 as a human.

Scar = 2 year 5 month and 25 as a human.

Sarabi = 3 which then is 30 in human lifespan.

Rafiki = 6 as a monkey then would be 60 as a human

See my logic?


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The Elephant Graveyard, one of the most forbidden places to go to in the Pride Lands if you were anything, but an Elephant or the cursed Hyenas who were starving enough to roam the holy land of the dead. It was a place of peace, to have a final goodbye before sleeping for eternity and joining the circle of life, it certainly was not a place for young lion cubs to play at, that was for sure. Yet here was Simba and his friend Nala in the graveyard roaming around without a care of their safety or what was in the graveyard.

The two cubs had fooled Zazu at the watering hole, though the falling of a hippo onto the small bird-man was a little harsh in Simba's opinion as he did hear something crack when Zazu was down, and slipped through the grass to get to the graveyard unseen. How they came about the knowledge of the Elephant's Graveyard was through Nala's mom, Sarafina, speaking to Mufasa about some roaming Hyenas near the edge of the Pride Lands or something like that, Nala only heard half of it and heard of the Elephant Graveyard as well as it's location. Nala told Simba and said that they should explore, see what was the graveyard was and why it seemed like a taboo with the lions and lionesses. Both were a little hesitant to go, the place seemed dark and spooky as they neared it, but they weren't going to back down! They needed to know what was in their home and find out why the others didn't come here unless it was for something of utter most importance.

"Ready Simba? We're on the edge of the Elephant Graveyard" Nala said to her younger friend. Simba nodded and both slid through the thin grass and dirt before sprinting over to a small mound that was taller then them that seemed to be next to the edge of the ground and the graveyard, key word here is 'seemed'. As soon as the two cubs arrived to the mound they jumped over it when they did the noticed their error. They looked down in fear as they saw the drop off of the cliff soar under them and they were over nothing, but bones of the dead and rough, cracked dirt. They screamed out as their weight caught up with gravity and fell down like dead weight to the ground, surely to meet their doom right? But when they landed, they landed on their feet and then their bodies crashed, knocking their air out of them. They laid down and waited for their breath to come back, it took a bit, but when it did, both of the cubs saw that they were alright.

They laughed despite the incident and stood up, switching to their human forms and stretching. Nala looked to be twelve with soft sand, blond hair going to her shoulders and bright, blue eyes. Simba was around eleven and had short, reddish-blond hair that only went to his ears and his orange eyes shined so brightly with youthful innocence. Both cubs were the youngest in the pride at the moment and constantly getting into things, though it was mostly Nala and an older male who visited Pride Rock from time to time.

"God, that had my heart pumping" Nala said as she put her hand to her chest and felt her pounding heart.

"Yeah, I know. That scared me badly" Simba said as he finished stretching. Nala sighed and grabbed Simba's wrist so they could go onward in their adventure. They arrived to a large elephant skull a few minutes later and looked around, becoming disoriented with where they were as hey forgot which way they came from.

"So big" Nala said, "It's also spooky, right Simba?" she asked while watching said cub climb up onto the junction of the tusks and the skull.

"Yeah, but I'm not scare like you" he teased the girl. Nala huffed and went forward to get right below Simba's standing point on the tusks.

"I'm not scared!" she said.

"Suuuuuure" Simba said while drawing out the vowel. He looked down at her and smirked.

"You know Nala, from up here, you look tiny" he said and started laughing as the girl started growling and hissing out bounds of words that didn't make much sense other then being childish insults.

"Simba, come down from there, it's dangerous!" Nala shouted after a while, not noticing a blue bird flapping its way down to their location.

"Right you are young Nala. Simba, come down! We need to get out of here, it's forbidden and we're all in very grave danger" Zazu said once he had changed into his human for. He wasn't that tall, only towering Nala by a foot or so, and had blue hair that stuck up in the back a small bit while the tips of his hair was dark blue. His eyes were a dark brown bordering black and he had orange and red tribal marks painted over his nose and lips, stating that he was part of the red beaked horn-bill tribe.

"Danger? Hah! I walk on the wild side. I laugh in the face of danger. Ha ha ha ha!" Simba laughed mockingly as if he was trying to show he wasn't afraid.

Somewhere during Simba's laughing, a group of voices joined in with his, making him become frightened and leap off the tusks. He landed next to Nala and Zazu before holding onto Nala for comfort and support while Zazu stood in front of them, hiding them from whatever was here with them. They stood in the circle of the tusks while looking up at the empty eye sockets, knowing that the main laughter came from here. A dark faced young woman looked out of where she had been hiding. She seemed to be in her late teens-early twenties with long, black hair that had protruding bangs and large eyes with beady, black pupils. She crawled out of the eye socket and walked down the right tusk and hopped to the ground next to Simba and Nala.

"Well, well, well, Banzai, what do we have here?" she said.

"I don't know, Shenzi. What do you think, Ed?" male voice came from the other side of them. They gasped and looked at the older man who had equally dark skin as the woman, Shenzi. Banzai, as the man was called, had short dark hair with three long hairs standing up and limping to the front with a small curve, he also had large eyes with beady, black pupils and he seemed to be in his early twenties as well.

Crazed laughter from behind the cubs which caused them to jump and look at a man that looked to be as insane as they could get; bald head, no eyebrows, small eyes that looked outward away from each other, crazed smiling with his tongue hanging out and lofting off to the side. The cubs were shaking as they stood there in the center of the group, looking at the crazy one and the two normal ones, Zazu had not moved much, only staring at the two in front of him with fear etched in his eyes.

"Hyena" he said with a soft and fearful tone. Banzai and Shenzi laughed at Zazu while Ed watched the cubs, his head tilted to the aide as he looked at them.

"Just what I was thinkin'. A trio of trespassers!" Banzai said when he finished translating Ed's laughter in his head and hearing Zazu's fear filled words.

"And quite by accident, let me assure you. A simple navigational error" Zazu said while turing to get the cubs out of the danger zone, but they got blocked by Shenzi.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, wait, wait. I know you. You're Mufasa's little stooge!" Shenzi said with delight as she looked down on Zazu.

"I, madam, am the king's Majordomo" Zazu said angrily despite the situation.

"And that would make you..." Banzai said once he spotted Simba behind Zazu and sort of hidden by Nala.

"Future king" Simba said, trying to make them fear his future title, one that he'd happily give to Taka and have him here right now, he had never been so scared like he was now. Shenzi and Banzai laughed while Ed rolled his back in the dirt.

"Do you know what we do to kings who step out of their kingdom?" Shenzi said with a smirk towards the prince of the pride lands. Simba saw the bait and sadly took it to buy some time.

"Puh. You can't do anything to me." he said, though deep inside he knew he was wrong.

"Technically, they can. We are on their land" Zazu said with a small nervous smile as he continued to shelter the two cub from the trio.

"But Zazu, you told me they're nothing but slobbering, mangy, stupid poachers!" Simba said as he was the simple cub he was at times, not seeing that he signed Zazu's death warrant with those words.

"Ix-nay on the upid-stay..." Zazu said as he winced internally for ever saying those words in front of the molding cub.

"Who you callin' 'upid-stay?'" Banzai yelled angrily once he caught what Simba had been talking about.

"My, my! Look at the sun, it's time to go!" Zazu says while hurrying the cubs out of the way, but get block by Shenzi when they were about out into the open.

"What's the hurry? We'd love you to stick around for dinner" Shenzi teased while she shifted her hand to Simba and scratched under his chin and looking at a small amount of blood that gathered from a scratch she made.

"Yeah, we could have whatever's "lion" around!" Banzai said once his anger depleted. He and Shenzi start laughing and become distracted with their antics.

"Ohh, wait, wait, wait, I got one, I got one! Make mine a "cub" sandwich!" Shenzi says and both bust out laughing long enough to have the Renegade trio make a run for freedom and changing into their animal forms. Ed watched them and pointed while making noises that catches Banzai's attention and he looks down to where he was pointing.

"What, Ed? What is it?" Shenzi said in confusion, not having seen her friend like this before.

"Hey, did we order this dinner to go?" Banzai said as he continued to follow the trio with his eyes.

"No. Why?" Shenzi asks before turning and seeing what the other two were looking at.

"'Cause THERE IT GOES!" Banzai shouts and all take off after the trio, switching into real hyenas. The Hyena trio chases the Renegade trio through the graveyard, pushing them in deeper before having them cut off by a blocking tusk. Banzai grabs Zazu when the bird-man wasn't paying attention and Shenzi went to grab the cubs. Nala saw Shenzi and screamed, gaining Simba's attention and he lept in front of his friend while acting on pure instinct and clawed out four gashes on Shenzi's cheek*. Shenzi grew angry from the hit and growled at Simba before leaping forward to land on them, only to have the cubs slide backwards and slip down a vertebrate that went down hill. She sighed as she saw that she wasn't going to get them at the moment and went to see what Banzai was doing with the bird-man, also seeing if the cubs had appeared at where he was.

"The little majordomo bird hippity-hopped all the way to the birdie boiler" Banzai said while smiling and moving Zazu against his will towards a geyser, not seeing Shenzi join him and Ed at the small hot water shooter. He stuffed Zazu into the geyser and waited for it to go off.  
>"Oh, no! Not the birdie boiler!" Zazu screamed out before having it escalate when the geyser shot him out of the hole like a rocket. The Hyena trio laughed hysterically at the event and stopped when they heard a cub speak out from nearby.<p>

"Hey! Why don't you pick on somebody your own size?" Simba said, angered at what they did to Zazu.

"Like... you?" Shenzi said, her anger returning from earlier.

"Oops" Simba said before the cubs ran off again, this time having all of the Hyena trio after them. They came to another blocked path that consisted of two tusks that they could climb over, but with the time they didn't have. Simba pushed Nala up to give her a head start while the hyenas came closer. Nala ducked down when a figure jumped over the tusks and landed in-between the Hyena trio and the cubs. Simba was curled up at the bottom of the lower tusk and was hiding beneath his paw as he waited for the hyenas to eat him, but he got startled out of his ball when a roar erupted a little off to his side.

He gasped at he saw Mufasa, his step-father, roaring at the hyena and making them freeze in terror before shifting into his human form. He was more ferocious in his human form as he was bigger, buffer and meaner looking that in his lion form. Wild red hair ran from the top of his shoulders down to his mid back and it was voluminous to make him seem like something you didn't want to tango with, his actions further proved it as he grabbed a nearby bone and started to hit it against his freehand. the Hyena trio laid on the ground and turned back to their human forms as the man came towards them.

"M-Muf-fasa!" Banzai and Shenzi shout as the tall man stood over them, Ed was just staring at him, no crazed smile or tongue in sight.

"What were you doing with my cub?" Mufasa asked the Hyenas. Shenzi and Banzai gulped harshly, now they were in for it!

"Is that _**your**_ cub? I-we had no idea!" Shenzi said to play the dumb card and get away with their lives. Banzai caught on and started talking as well to deflect anything bad away from them while slipping out of the way of Mufasa's gaze and grabbing Ed as well.

"Leave" Mufasa said darkly to them and the Hyena trio took off, not daring to look back. Simba saw them leave and sighed, but still made himself very small as Mufasa turned around to look at him, Nala and Zazu, the latter arriving back from who knew where. Simba wanted Taka here at this point, Mufasa was sure to do something to him for leaving the Pride Land safety zone. Mufasa turned and made a signal for the three to follow him back to the Pride lands and out of the graveyard. they followed, Simba hung in the back so he didn't deal with Mufasa's current anger and hoped that he would calm down, though it didn't seem that way. The only thing that made him slightly more confident was seeing Taka walk by in the shadows, Simba went to say something, but Taka held a paw-finger up to his mouth to keep Simba quiet and to say that he would see him later once he finished his business. Simba smiled softly and continued onward, picking up his speed as he had lagged behind them.

**~0~**

Once back to the middle of the Pride Lands, Mufasa stopped, having not said much other then how foolish they had been to go into the forbidden graveyard. He then instructed Zazu to take Nala home so he could talk with his SON. Simba sat on his haunches, lowering his head and ears so he would be seen as a threat by Mufasa.

"You deliberately disobeyed me" Mufasa said to Simba, "I told you not to leave the safe zone of the Pride Lands!" he continued before picking up Simba and making him turn back to his human form.

"I-I'm sorry" Simba said while he shook from head to toe as Mufasa's anger increased.

"You could have been hurt, you could of got Nala killed!" Mufasa shouted and soon saw red as all the things that had been happening to the pride lands collided with this moment. He lashed out and hit Simba so hard, he went flying to the side and land in the dirt. Simba cried out as he landed, feeling a rock slash at his face, he went to get up, only to get grabbed and shaken before being yelled at, hit again and sent soaring into the grass. Simba didn't cry out this time, he had bitten his tongue and that made blood start pooling into his mouth so he couldn't make a noise. He shifted into his animal form and ran stealthily through the grass, making sure Mufasa didn't see him.

"Simba? SIMBA! Simba come back! I'm sorry' SIMBA!" Mufasa cried out once the anger disappeared and he realized when he did. He searched for Simba, looking in the grass for where he had seen Simba landed, only to find it empty. Dread filled him as he continued searching and calling out for his cub.

**~0~**

Scar growled at the Hyenas when he got to their hideout, he was **furious** with them for attacking Simba and his friends, he did consider Zazu Simba's friend as he caught the two talking happily more often then not when the cub wasn't with him or his mother.

"I never said to attack a **cub**!" Scar roared at them, his green eyes were blazing with anger and he turned into his human form so he looked more intimidating and to show his rage. Shenzi and Banzai flinched as they looked at their boss while Ed nomed on a bone that held nothing more then just some small ounces of flavor from whatever animal it had been. Scar made his fingernails elongate into his claws before he went to attack his subordinates for attacking his Simba and for disobeying his order.

Shenzi and Banzai yelped as Scar scratched and clawed them into a bloody mess that would heal in a few days, but it would be a lesson on not attacking cubs, especially the future king. Ed had sat down with his bone and continued to chew and nom it, clearly ignoring punishment that was being delivered to his friends. Hey he never laid a paw or hand on the cubs and didn't make a single hair go out of place, he had just watched and observed not making any move to touch the trio that had been in the graveyard earlier, he was insane not stupid as he knew that Simba was under Scar's wing when he lashed out at anyone that spoke illy about the cub, it was as clear as day to him. He looked up and saw that Scar had finished his punishment and started laughing at Shenzi and Banzai as they looked like shredded paper.

"Shut up Ed" they said together and hissed in pain as they made their way over to him. Scar walked up to the hangover that was claimed his spot and sat down, he needed to feed these dimwits so they would aide him, or that's what they said, really Scar only did it because it prop Ed their loyalty and he would need that later to keep Simba safe.

"Now that is out of the way, I need you to do something for me" Scar said and gained the attention of the trio and a few other Hyenas around that soon went back to their business, they wouldn't bother their boss unless they needed to.

"What is it?" Shenzi asked irritated while she cleaned her wounds. scar ignored her tone and looked down at them from his high point on the overhang.

"I want you to look after someone when the time comes" Scar said softly to the trio. The stopped what they were doing and looked up at Scar.

"Who's this '_someone_'?" Shenzi asked with a little caution.

"Oh you've met him already, think real hard about it and you may know of who I'm talking about" Scar said mysteriously in a riddle, hey they needed to extend their brain power! They weren't the best wild dogs in the world for nothing you know. The trio looked at each, well Ed just stared into space and let the others think, it was easy to figure out by his standards*. He and Scar heard Shenzi and Banzai gasp when they did figure it out.

"YOU WANT US TO WATCH A BRAT?" they shouted in sync. Scar felt a twitch when they said that, Simba was FAR from a brat, he may have thought to same if Simba was Mufasa's son, but he wasn't and he had a marvelous insight on things while still being innocent.

"Oh, Simba is not a brat once you get to know him" Scar started, but was interrupted by Banzai.

"Bull! That cub was throwing his weight around with his title as future king" Banzai said, "He thinks he is better than us because he lives at Pride Rock, spoiled brat" he growled out and Shenzi picked up from where her friend/pack-mate left off.

"He doesn't know suffering or pain, not like you Scar" she said, "he gets whatever he wants and once he's king, who knows what he will do" she ground bitterly. Scar hated people talking bad about Simba, his subordinates were no exception. He jumped down from the hangover and landed in front of the trio.

"You don't know Simba like I do" he said softly, "Simba may be next in line for the throne, but he doesn't want it. He doesn't want to be put out as the top dog, so to speak, and he doesn't throw his weight around unless it is to make a diversion or to give some time for a plan to uprise. He's smart and has a good head on his shoulders. He has a lot of secrets that people don't know about" Scar said before turning to leave, he just wanted to go to his bungalow, see Simba, then sleep. He didn't want to deal with the Hyena trio anymore today. He heard someone follow him and turned to see Ed right behind. He raised an eyebrow to ask a question and just got laughter from the insane hyena-man, knowing that only the insane one wanted to meet Simba officially. He sighed and just continued onward, barely noticing that the rest of the trio started following him out.

**~0~**

Simba coughed a little when he breathed in the warm air. He was just feet away from Taka's bungalow and boy did he want to get inside the rock home that had more hiding places then Pride Rock would ever have by itself. He had not heard Mufasa's calls for a while, signaling that he had gone south-west of where Simba had determined to go. His tongue stopped bleeding just a short while go and he knew that his fur was just covered in his blood and the side of his face was as well and he had to be bruised or sprained something in certain areas of his body because it hurt to move.

_**'Just a little further, come on Taka is there'**_ he pepped himself enough to make his body continue up the small ramp like stone that went up to the main area of the bungalow. He gave a small smile and stepped off the ramp sluggishly, only to have one of his paws catch on a small dip in-between the ramp and main area. He went forward and rolled into a dark shaded area. He tried to move, but his body wouldn't comply to what he was ordering it to do, so he just laid there in the shadow, slowly slipping into his human form so he would be more comfortable, before closing his eyes to rest.

**~0~**

Scar stopped just a few yards from his bungalow, something wasn't right. A tangy, coppery smell hung around the bungalow and it didn't smell inviting. He then picked up his speed to a run, ignoring the Hyena trio in the process, as he could feel that something was wrong. At the small ramp, Scar saw a small, dirty paw print leading up to his bungalow, whoever it belong to, they had a difficult time getting up the short and slightly elevated rock as the paw print was skidded off to the side instead of being in one spot like a normal one. He hurried up the ramp, having no time to notice that the Hyena trio had caught up to him, as he felt the bond that he had with Simba come into play, guiding him to where he was.

_**'Oh god, please don't let him be harmed'**_ he begged to an imaginative figure as he got closer to the dark spot of the bungalow at which he slept at. He stopped and dropped to his knees at what he saw, his breath caught in his throat.

"Scar?" Shenzi asked in a light fight as she hadn't seen her boss like this before. She and Banzai gasped as Scar brought out a little boy from the shadows, Ed was just staring at them, unsure of what to do.

Scar held Simba tenderly as he looked over the damage that happened to the cub. Cuts and gashes ran down the right side of his face along with a large blackening bruise, dried blood running down his chin to his stomach, a swollen and sprained left hand that seemed to be most of the pain besides a whole lot of bruising and scrapes. Scar ran his hand through Simba's hair tenderly enough to rouse the cub from his sleep.

"Mmm? Taka?" a small, weak voice came from the injured cub. Scar felt his throat close at how weak his cub sounded.

"I'm here Simba. Who did this to you?" he asked though he had his suspicion. Simba coughed and winced when pain went through his body.

"M-Mufasa" he croaked out, "He was angry about" another cough, "About the graveyard" he said before going into a coughing fit. After Simba said that, Shenzi gasped and held her hands to her mouth as her eyes went wide with shock. Banzai had his eyes widen and stared at the cub and Ed just continued to look at him before going to sit down next to Scar and watch, not sure what he should do.

Scar growled in anger at what Simba said. How dare HE! He thought darkly while he tried to sooth Simba as he held him closely enough so he wouldn't harm him yet gain comfort from the older lion-man. Scar sat against the wall of the bungalow, not thinking clearly about anything, but soothing Simba and planning. What he was planning had to deal with Mufasa, the man overstepped his boundary and hurt his cub, he had to pay.

_**'Mufasa has to go' **_he thought angrily about his brother.

**Me**: Ch 3 DONE! I'm sorry about making Mufasa the evil one here, but it is needed and it is general nature as a real lion will kill cubs that don't belong to them if the lion wants to mate with the mothering lioness. Also I know that isn't how the original graveyard scene went, but it's my story and I'm using creative license here to make it out to fit my story.

*Can anyone say bitchslap?

*Ed is insane, but intelligent in my opinion, he just doesn't like talking.


	4. Chapter 4

**Me:** Herro! It's been a while and I could tell you all that went on, I doubt you would want to read it, just know that I went through a few things that includes writers block, a death in the family and getting ready for Graduation, that's all you should know. Anyway yeah, enjoy this new chapter!

**Chapter 4**

Rafiki was a wise man. He had been around the Pride Lands 6 decades and was sought out to be the tribal healer of the land. Though Rafiki was this, he was a hermit and liked to determine what the stars say up in his great tree. The baboon was currently doing that on this night. He cackled out as he painted pictures on his tree to tell himself the future and currently was drawing a lion cub that interpreted Simba.

"The hidden cub is going to go through trials soon" he said to himself a cackled again as he darkened the color of the mane he had originally put that was Mufasa's color. He hummed slightly as he looked back up to the stars to see if he missed something on Simba before going into the next picture beside it. This one was a darker, bigger and was a more lanky lion than Simba's, but it didn't show any threat to the cub from the way it put it's paws around him in a protective manner.

"And Taka has some trials of his own that interconnect with young Simba" the old baboon said to himself as he finished the portrait on the bark. He hummed slightly as he looked at it and wondered what this feeling he was getting that was wrong with the picture. He couldn't tell and it was bugging him, much to his annoyance, yet he wasn't able to think on it as he heard movement down at the base of his tree.

Looking down through the branches, he saw a small group of people at the base of his tree. It was dark and his eyes weren't strong enough to see who it was from this height, so like any baboon that was in a predicament such as this, Rafiki shifted into his baboon form, grabbed his staff and jumped down to the Pride Land floor. crouching low against the grass, Rafiki stated at the figures until his eyes adjusted to the lighting a bit more and saw Scar and his trio of hyena followers. He saw that Scar was carrying something in his arms, yet the young lion wouldn't show the bundle he was carrying as he growled and stared up his tree.

"If that damned baboon doesn't hurry..." Scar growled threateningly, his eyes flashing in anger, danger and frustration. Rafiki blinked at the growl before moving over to where Scar was and stood up behind him and out of the hyenas' view.

"What is it that you need of old Rafiki?" he asked and laughed as Scar turned around suddenly and glare at him and the hyena trio jumped at his voice.

"I'm not here for your amusement or riddled speaking baboon" Scar growled in his throat.

"Then tell Rafiki why you are here!" the baboon said as he shifted back to his human form that looked like his baboon form only he didn't have the blueish-grey fur as it was body paint that matched his fur.

"Mufasa" Scar bit the name out of his older brother, "He attacked Simba" he said simply before moving his arm slightly to show his battered 'nephew' to the hermit baboon. Rafiki blinked an looked at Simba before reaching and tenderly taking the cub from Scar and looked him over to see the damage that the King did to his heir. The baboon sighed in depression as he saw how hurt Simba was and gently handed him back to Scar.

"Bring him up to my home, I've got to get some items ready" he said and turned back into his baboon form then went up into his tree. Shenzi and Bonzai stared at the retreating figure before one of the asked what was on both their minds.

"And _how _do we do that?" Shenzi's accented voice came out of the darkness. Scar sighed and ran a hand over his face. He didn't know, he didn't visit the baboon as much as Sarabi did when she was pregnant with Simba to have her check ups as it was inconvenient to have the baboon visit every week with his equipment when it was easier for her to just walk across the Pride Land. Now he wished he had accompanied her as this was a dire situation that needed to be fixed by the crazy hermit in the tree. While the three contemplated the situation, they didn't notice Ed walking over to the base of the tree and look around it, hands placed against the bark and searched over it, feeling for something on the tree. When he felt a strange knot, he pressed it and stepped back as it opened at the base, revealing a spiraling staircase that went up into the tree.

The trio didn't seem to notice Ed's discovery and Ed blinked at them before he went over and took Simba from Scar, ignoring the danger that came from doing this, and went into the opening before it closed on him. Scar growled at his underling as he took Simba from him, was he crazy or simply stupid? Scar knew that Ed wasn't stupid as he never went on the lion's bad side like the others so he went with crazy. He was going to jump Ed until he saw the opening in the tree. He followed his underling, the other two hyenas following him, and went up into the tree, wondering how in the name of the great kings did the baboon construct this.

Once at the top, Ed went through a small covering of dried grass and went over to the waiting baboon. Rafiki looked over at the derp looking hyena and saw that he had Simba in hand.

"About time! I was thinking you be needing my help to simply go up the stairs!" he said while pointing over to a small nesting of dried grass and twigs, "Place him there, carefully" he said as he grabbed some of his medical voodoo equipment and went over to the unconscious cub.

He tossed a bit of some fruit juice onto Simba's wounds and started chanting in the forgotten language of the plains while shaking his stick over Simba. Scar was skeptical at his practice, but knew from past experiences that it was the real deal and was shown that it was real once more as Simba began glowing a soft, pale gold for a few seconds then turned back to normal. Scar went over and picked up Simba and looked him over, inwardly smiling softly as he saw that there was nothing on Simba, other than the fruit juice that wasn't going to much but make him sticky if it wasn't cleaned off, and held him close while trying to coax him awake to see those orange eyes of his.

"He won't be waking 'til tomorrow afternoon, he needs the rest" Rafiki said offhandedly to Scar as he knew that the lion was trying to wake up his precious bundle. Scar nodded his head before turning to leave and return to his bungalow with Simba and sleep while protecting his precious cub. Right before he was about to walk through the grass hanging, he heard Rafiki call his name. Looking at his underlings, he motioned them to go onward and wait for him while he dealt with Rafiki.

"What is it?" he drawled out the question, slightly irked that he was still talking instead of heading back to safety.

"Tell Sarabi what happened" Rafiki said and continued on when he saw the change in Scar's face, "She has a right to know Taka. Plus she will be apt to protect Simba more when she hears this" he finished and stared Scar in the eyes. Scar stated back before sighing in defeat and closing them.

"Alright, I will and stop calling me that accursed name!" he said before turning away from the chuckling baboon then remembered one thing that bugged him and turned back around.

"Something I need to ask, why didn't your spell work?" he asked as he remembered the protection spell that Rafiki performed the first time.

"Ah, I wondered if you caught onto that" the baboon said and leaned against his stick, "The spell is based on Simba's intent to protect himself and his will to stay alive. It also works if he has someone who is protective of him around, but most based on his intent when he's alone. I'm guessing he wasn't expecting Mufasa to lash out and the spell didn't work as he was terrified and wanted to get away, survive for another day" he told Scar, who nodded silently and thanked him before leaving the tree quicker than the hyena trio, he liked his feet on solid ground thank you.

**~0~**

It was early morning in the Pride Lands and the sun was barely peaking over the horizon. Normaly Sarabi would be in the den still asleep, but Simba wasn't in the den and that bothered her since he didn't return along with Mufasa. She didn't think much about it, though she had been on edge, as she thought they would return while she was sleeping, but once she woke up she saw that Mufasa was in the den, though on the far side away from her, and Simba wasn't there. Now her worry was slowly rising as she made her way over to Taka's bungalow, hoping her cub was there.

She went up over the northern side that was closest to Pride Rock and hobbled over a few rocks that hid the back entrance from view. Once inside she navigated through the small tunnels that went to the main area of the bungalow and stepped out cautiously. She peered around with slightly dailated eyes and saw Taka's sleeping form not far from her at the entrance and some...hyenas nearby in a pile of limbs and snoring bodies. She didn't mind hyenas as long as they didn't bother her or her family and she knew that Taka was accosiated with them as their unofficial leader, but it bothered her now as they were close to her while she was panicking slightly. Sarabi edged closer to Taka, placed a hand on his shoulder and shook him slightly, making his hair fall over his arm in the process.

A groan came from the outcast and he rolled over to look at who was waking him up after only what seemed like an hour of sleep. Two green eyes met a pair of brown and he slowly processed them in his mind and blinks himself awake when they registered as his sister-in-law and Queen.

"Sarabi? Why are you here?" he asked gruffly, his voice was thick with sleep and grogginess.

"Is Simba here? He's not at Pride Rock" she asked calmly, though inside she was squirming in anticipation of getting an answer and panicking with the idea of her cub being gone. Scar blinked for a moment and nodded his head before sitting up to reveal the sleeping cub that he had been curled around in a protective manner. Sarabi let out a shaky breath and reached for her baby and lifted him up, trying to wake him, but got a small whimper from Simba before he buried his face in her bosom unconsciously.

Sarabi chuckled slightly and sat down, intended to wait until Simba woke before heading back to Pride Rock, though this was technically a lie as she was being lazy and tired from waking up earlier than normal. She looked at the drowsy Scar and motioned for him to get some more sleep, which he promptly did as he collapsed next to her legs and breathed in heavily with an unintended snort. Sarabi giggled at this before yawning and blinking as sleepiness was catching up to her now that her panic was gone from her system.

_**'A few more hours won't hurt' **_she thought and laid down, careful of Scar's head, while placing Simba in between her and Scar. She smiled as she watched Simba curl up to Scar's side and Scar's arm went around his much smaller form to bring him closer. She laid her head down and watched her son for a bit more, making sure that he was alright, for her sanity's sake, before closing her eyes and drifting off to meet Morpheus.

**~0~**

Scar sat up against the wall with Simba in his lap, still sleeping off Rafiki's voodoo magic, and he watched as Sarabi paced back and forth from one side of the bungalow to the entrance and back again. The hyena trio were watching as well, though Banzi and Shenzi were doing small hand games to entertain themselves while the Queen paced.

"How could he? No how **dare **he?" Sarabi's voice trailed out of her mouth in an rage filled growl. The lioness was pumping out adrenaline and rage for what she heard what Mufasa did to her cub. How was it that he didn't try to tell her or wake her to say that Simba was missing? She knew that he wouldn't say that he had attacked her son, that was simple as he did the same before, but it was different when he wasn't returned with the intended lion that went out to retrieve him from wherever he had been playing at.

"Ugh, that...that LION!" she screeched out the last word and raked a clawed hand over a nearby wall, sending some sparks off it and leaving a perfect row of scratch marks.

"Sarabi" Scar said her name to tell her his slightly thought out plan he had been making since the return trip from Rafiki's. She peered over to him with cold eyes.

"What?" she bit out. She heard blood pumping in her ears from the amount of anger that went through her and she wanted something to take it out on, preferably the one that caused it.

"It's obvious that Mufasa needs to be taken care of, he's too dangerous to keep around. We need a strategy to take him out of the scene" he said smoothly as he ran a hand through Simba's fire-blonde hair comfortingly. Yes they needed a plan, Simba was far to precious to lose to the likes of Mufasa. They nearly lost him last night, despite Rafiki not saying anything to them as he did his magic, and Scar had felt like he was losing a vital part of his life when he had been carrying Simba across the plain in his broken state.

Sarabi blinked and nodded while trying to calm her breathing as she sat down in front of Scar and watched as he ran a hand through Simba's hair. It was a adorable how Simba unconsciously leaned into the touch without alerting Scar of what he was doing and how protective Scar was of Simba made Sarabi know that she did make the right choice in letting him know about Simba's true heritage. Once she was calm enough to think rationally, she looked up at Scar, who was somewhat lost in thought.

"What should we do?" she asked, knowing that this was a weak point for her as she was better at executing plans than planning them. Scar looked at her before started going over a skeletal structure he had for taking care of Mufasa, his three underlings listened tentatively from behind the lioness.

**Me:** Eh it's short, but hey at least it's something right? Anyway hope you enjoyed it, this was just a small interlued-like chapter for those who wanted me to update.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The pride knew something was wrong, yet they couldn't pin point where the dread filling was coming from an this put them on edge, especially Sarafina and Nala. Sarafina had watched Sarabi high tail it out of the cave the day before yesterday when it wasn't even sun out in a panic and she hadn't seen her at all since she left until late last night with Simba following her silently, not very unusual except he looked slightly afraid when he caught sight of Mufasa. The lioness didn't understand that one, yes Mufasa was intimidating, but Simba was his cub and he shouldn't be afraid of him...should he?

She sighed while helping Nala with a small project she was doing with some rocks and flowers, though she didn't see that her own baby girl was looking around fearfully and keeping an eye out for her younger friend. The young female had heard Mufasa when he thought that she and Zazu were far enough and she had saw the King lash out and hit Simba. She made sure not to get Zazu's attention as she knew that if he saw the King then there would be an uproar with everyone and possibly a war, according to her mom at least, between the pride and their allies. So she kept to herself while waiting for the right opportunity.

"-ala! Nala!" the young female came out of her daze as she heard her mother call her name.

"Hm?" she hummed while looking at Sarafina. The elder female watched her daughter and saw that she was distracted and decided to let Nala roam as her little project was not on her mind at the moment.

"Go play, stay close though" Sarafina told Nala, who nodded and walked over to the trail before shifting into her cub form and ran out to the plain below. The elder female watched her daughter run and sighed again as she went and searched for Sarabi. If she knew her best friend as well as she did, she knew where she would be and she hoped she caught her soon.

_**~0~**_

"Are you sure this plan will work?" Shenzi asked Sarabi as the Queen paced back and forth while Simba messed with Ed and Banzai, Scar had gone out to command his other hyenas to set them on with the plan he had to take down Mufasa. Sarabi didn't look at the hyena female, but she did answer her as she grabbed a rock and fiddled with it so she could do _something _instead of ponder and worry about little things.

"For as long as I've known Scar, and I've known him for a very long time, he's always made plans that have _**worked**_. If he has a plan idea in his head, he works on it until it isn't going to fail. If he made a plan that has a even a slight chance of failure, he sacks it and starts over. So yes I believe it will work, I have faith in Scar and his plan" Sarabi said to the other female, who blinked at her for a few moments before sighing an turning to where Simba and her pack mates were.

Even though they had chased him and his little friends, Simba was willing to be around them and interact with them as they had apologized to him after he was told what was going on and introduced to them. He was understanding and a happy cub, very smart and willing to try and make peace with people, not really violent unless there was no other choice or he was running on instinct. She smiled as she saw that Simba had tackled Banzai and, with the help of Ed, started to tickle him mercilessly.

"Ah! Ha ha! S-stop! Ha!" the tortured male was shouting to the cub and his pack mate. Shenzi laughed at Banzai's misery before deciding to go and help him as she could see Scar coming from the south with what seemed to be the baboon they went to, to fix Simba, following him.

"A'right let the 'scopic brained one up, Scar's returning" Shenzi said as she lifted Simba up and placed him to the side before smacking the back of Ed's head to get him off of Banzai. The panting male shook from the tickling and glared at his male pack mate before tackling him when he started laughing. Shenzi grabbed him and shoved him to the side away from Simba.

"Knock it off" she said before going over to Sarabi, who was waiting for Scar to come up the ramp. The lioness smiled brightly at the baboon following Scar and went down to greet them while Shenzi stuck close to Simba and entertained him with a story so the others could talk.

"Rafiki, it's good to see you" Sarabi said as she hugged the medicine man, her blonde hair bounced over her shoulders and into the baboon's face. Not minding the hair, Rafiki patted Sarabi's back before she went to Taka's side.

"It's good to see you too, my dear. Taka told me about the plan and thought I'd be valuable to it" Rafiki told her and chortled lightly at the glare he received from Taka.

"I see, mind explaining that part Taka?" Sarabi asked and giggled at the defeated look on the dark lion's face as he gave in to their use of his birth name. He motioned for them to sit in some shade at the base of his bungalow, smiling as he heard Simba's laughter and the hyena trio's bickering. Once sat down, Scar began to elaborate on what he had going for Rafiki's part.

"Since Rafiki is one of the elders of the Pride Lands, no one would expect him to join in on this. I've thought of his use in medicine and poisons to help dull Mufasa's senses so he won't be suspicious plus if things get out of control, he can use his knowledge in his...uh...what did you call it?" he asked Rafiki to retell his form martial arts.

"Baboon foo, it mixes several forms of martial arts together to work with a baboon's natural abilities and flexibility" he gave a general depiction of what he meant.

"Um...yes...that. Since Rafiki can use his...baboon foo...he can cause harm to Mufasa if things get tricky" he finished up for Sarabi. The lioness nodded slight before thinking of something. She knew the basis of the whole plan and yet she hadn't been told a key part of the plan; who lures Mufasa out of the Pride Land safety zone and towards the canyon where this will take place. She voice her question and saw Taka looking to the side.

"That's part of the plan I'm not liking at all" he stated carefully and sighed, "I've thought of many possibilities of who it could be, and yet each one had been knocked aside for one reason or another and I've found only _**one **_that can do it and it's the one I hate to use at all" he said to Sarabi and the concerned looking baboon.

"Who?" Sarabi asked softly, hoping that the dreadful filling she had was wrong. Taka looked down for a moment, contemplating on telling her before looking up to her brown eyes.

"Simba"

_**~0~**_

Nala stumbled through the plains as her mind wondered through thoughts and worries she had. She was mostly worried about Simba, her friend and brother in all with the exception of blood. She had wanted to run to Sarabi or, she wondered why she thought this, Scar to tell what she saw, but she remembered her mother's words and she was terrified that Mufasa would do something to her mother and the pride. She was scared of being hurt, but she was more afraid of her pride being hurt _because _of her. She remembered telling her something when she was a little younger and before Simba was born.

_"Our pride is our family. We have bonds with __**everyone **__in it regardless of how well we know them and when one of our pride makes a step out of the rules for our pride, things get hectic and everyone turns against that pride member. Remember this Nala, you never turn your back on your pride, they're you're support and they are your only ties to living"_

Back then she didn't understand and even now she didn't fully comprehend the meaning, but she had a small idea of what her mother meant. Simba is her pride member, her family, and he was hurt by Mufasa, his father. She had to protect him from the threat otherwise he would die. She shivered at that and turned around to head back to Pride Rock. She needed to tell _someone_ what she saw so she could help Simba and she had a vague clue as to who to tell.

_**~0~**_

Sarabi sat at the mouth of the den with Simba dozing next to her, he wasn't completely healed yet and Rafiki said he'd sleep a little more for the better part of two days before being more active again. She saw Mufasa leave Pride Rock for some reason or another and she narrowed her eyes at this before scanning the pride. They were all doing something or another and some were off hunting with the youngsters, teaching them the finer points of hunting, and she then saw Sarafina laying against her claimed rock. She picked up Simba carefully and went over to her best friend.

"'Fina" she said calmly. The named lioness looked up from her position and sat up to who she saw.

"'Rabi" she said and motioned for her to sit. Sarabi shook her head.

"Not right now. I need you to watch Simba for me while I run to Rafiki's tree" she said to be inconspicuously to her friend.

"Why? Are you alright?" Sarafina asked her, worried that something was wrong.

"I've just been feeling a little under the weather and I want to see if I'm getting ill and take care of it before it gets worse" she said offhandedly.

"'Rabi...do you want me to come with?" the blue eyed lioness asked the Queen.

"No! No I don't, I need you to watch Simba for me, you know I don't trust the other lionesses with Simba" she said while her heart pounded against her chest, she didn't need Sarafina to follow her while she did this crack pot scouting.

"You sure? Why not leave him with Scar?" the other lioness asked while trying to find a way to go with Sarabi.

"Taka's out at the moment, otherwise I would, please 'Fina. I don't want him to be around the others who will try something if I'm not here" the brown eyes lioness begged. Both knew that a few lionesses of their pride would leap at the chance to attack Simba so he wouldn't get the throne and so they could suave Mufasa into their claws so they would have the next heir to the throne and be Queen. Sarafina shook at the thought, as did Sarabi, then nodded after a small amount of thought.

"Alright, I will. Be careful though 'Rabi, something's going on around here and I'm not liking it one bit. Also if you see Nala, tell her to return here before Sundown?" Sarafina asked Sarabi and received a nod.

"I will" Sarabi said to her on both accounts of Sarafina's worry. Sarabi knew to keep a look out for her goddaughter knew that Simba was in safe paws with his godmother until she returned. Leaping off to the ramp, Sarabi transformed into her lion form and ran down the rest of the slanted rock until she hit the plains floor. From there she rushed down the path she saw Mufasa take and hurried to catch up with Mufasa, hopefully she'd get on his trail quicker than he'd catch on to her tailing him.

"-abi! Auntie 'Rabi!" the lioness heard a small voice from her right and slowed down to see Nala rushing over to her, panting and looking on the verge of tears.

"Nala, sweetie what is it?" Sarabi asked and hoped that she could quickly get going, not to be cruel to her goddaughter as she cared for her deeply, but Mufasa was getting farther and farther away each passing second and this was vital that she followed him.

"I need to tell you something, about Simba!" the cub said as she wrapped her arms around her godmother's neck. Turning back into her human form, Sarabi wrapped her arms around the little girl's back and pulled her close.

"Tell me, what is it?" she asked wondering what was wrong with her cub.

"I knew I should have said something sooner, but I was scared" Nala cried out and let the tears fall down her face.

"Shh, Shh. There, there Nala. Tell me what happened" she said and calmed the little one down quickly.

"A Fe-few nights ago _*hic*_ Simba and I got I-in trouble w-with M-muf-fasa for being somew-where we shouldn't have b-been and wh-while I was se-sent home with Zazu, S-Simba was ordered to stay with M-Mufasa" Nala started while getting small amounts of hiccups in her breathing, "W-when _*hic*_ he thought Zazu and I we-were far enough a-away he s-started yelling at S-Simba. Z-Zazu didn't hear him, b-but I did _*hic*_ and I s-saw him lash out a-and h-hit Simba" she then felt more tears fall down her face and cried again. Sarabi blinked widely and knew that she could use this, Nala had been there and had seen what went on, SHE was a link to nailing the coffin lid on Mufasa's casket.

"Don't worry Nala, I'm going to take care of this, Simba won't be hurt again" she soothed Nala's fears and calmed her again.

"Go, your mother is waiting for you and Simba is with her, safe and sound" she assured the cub and watched her run off after getting her nerves under control.

_**'Who knew that cubs were resilient?'**_ Sarabi asked herself before going off again in her lion form.

_**'Damn, I don't see him'**_ Sarabi thought darkly an stopped to look around, her night vision was slowly forming as the sun escaped her line of sight. She couldn't see her **'mate'**_**, **_but she suddenly smelt his scent coming from the ground beneath her. She hadn't smelt it before in the main proportion of the Pride Lands for the mixed scents, but now on the edge where she had seen him go, she had him. Leaning down and sniffing in his scent, Sarabi lifted her head and narrowed her eyes as she smelt others not to far ahead, who was Mufasa going to see?

Sarabi went onward again, this time nailing on Mufasa's trail and following it out past the meerkat burrows and side of Hyena territory. She went past the dried twin canyon, one not unlike the one Scar was planning to use, and then came to some cliffs she remembered passing when she went rouge in her youth. What was Mufasa doing here?

The mixed smells of her **'mate'** and others was getting the better of her nose and she soon lost Mufasa's trail, but it was still heading in the same path as the others so she kept following it until she heard voices, many of them and all varying in tones and gender. Looking around, Sarabi found a small path up to a cliff that seemed to overlook a bowl that the voices were coming from. Sarabi eased her way up the side of the cliff, missing the rock piles that would slide with the slightest touch and made sure she was hidden by slabs of rocks on the cliff face.

Several times she had to back track when there was a big enough gab to have her been seen or there were multiple rock piles to navigate around, but she did make it up to the top. She breathed in deeply to calm herself and to rid herself of the mixed scents that had coagulated in her nasal passages. She shook her head and edged over to a rock that would hide her and yet allow her to see a majority of the occupants in the bowl. Sarabi bit back a gasp at what she saw down in the bowl and quickly his herself as she didn't know if she had made a quick movement or not.

She couldn't believe her eyes as she looked back to the bowl and saw Mufasa down with his gathered people.

**Me:** What did Sarabi see? Oh! You want _me _to tell ya? HA! Not this time, ya have to wait for the next chapter!


End file.
